Buying a Plaque on a Bench, and Helping to Support a Park

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS

Published: January 8, 2006

On a hot afternoon in 1953, a 19-year-old named Anna and a girlfriend were eating homemade salami and prosciutto sandwiches at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, enjoying the sun.

Not far away, sitting on a blanket, a young man named Joseph and a friend hungrily eyed the food. Eventually, Joseph mustered the nerve to ask if the women were willing to share their lunch. They said yes.

A few months ago, the children of Anna and Joseph Aurichio, who have been married now for 50 years, decided to memorialize the spot where their parents met by having a plaque placed on a bench at Orchard Beach. They are taking part in a Parks Department program that allows people to dedicate spaces in city parks for a fee that goes to the park.

The arrangement, long common in institutions as disparate as hospitals, museums and places of worship, provides money for the Parks Department while allowing parkgoers to pay tribute to relatives and friends by ''buying'' benches for up to $7,500 each for the life of the bench and playgrounds for $15,000 annually.

Although the Adopt-a-Park program was inaugurated in 2003, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said similar sponsorships by individuals and corporations have existed for decades. Now, he said, many donations are being made to parks other than well-known oases like Central Park. The money pays for maintenance, but does not confer any special privileges on donors. ''It's a good program because people can do something for small parks or green spaces that have meant something to them,'' Mr. Benepe said.

For example, a restaurant owner on the Upper West Side of Manhattan has promised to donate $7,000 annually for 10 years for the care and maintenance of Straus Park, at Broadway and 106th Street, near his restaurant. A retired public school teacher has spent $3,000 so far, and plans to spend several thousand dollars more, on granite stones in Tompkins Square Park in the East Village to honor dozens of family members and friends. Each stone costs $250.

In the case of the Aurichios, the plaque marking the couple's 50th wedding anniversary will be placed on a park bench this spring, and will read, ''Anna Jakominich Aurichio and Joseph L. Aurichio fell in love here in 1953.''

''We wanted to do something special for them, and this seemed like a great tribute,'' said one of the couple's daughters, Karin Aurichio.

But some parks advocates say the Adopt-a-Park program only aggravates what they consider a significant disparity in maintenance between the city's best and worst parks because sponsorships are more likely to be made to parks that are already well maintained. As a result, they say, neglected parks will receive even less attention.

Geoffrey Croft, president of the New York City Park Advocates, a private nonprofit group, said, ''My question is, when is the government going to begin to adopt its own parks, and start to adequately fund this vital city service?''

One park that has attracted many sponsorships is Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist, placed a plaque dedicated to her husband, Fred, on a new bench in the park in 1997, the year he died. The bench and plaque, which cost $5,000, overlook Heather Garden and the Hudson River, a spot he visited nearly every day, Dr. Westheimer said.

''The George Washington Bridge is to the left, there's the Palisades, and the Heather Garden is right in front of your nose,'' she said. ''Wherever you look, there is a view of the majestic Hudson.'' Her husband, she said, ''knew every tree.''

On the marker, Dr. Westheimer chose something from the Song of Solomon: ''My beloved has gone down to the garden to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to pick lilies.''

A bench that former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger dedicated to his parents is nearby.

In Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Michael A. Armstrong chose trees instead of benches to dedicate to his five grandchildren. The most recent tree, a linden, was planted in November. The first one, a red maple planted in 1992, is now 35 feet high. The trees, planted close to one another in a meadow, have no plaques, but Mr. Armstrong said that neither he nor his grandchildren need them.

''They say things like, 'I wonder what's happening with my tree,' or 'I wonder if my tree's going to be O.K.,' '' Mr. Armstrong said. ''We wanted to give them a sense of place. This is the family place, not some cemetery where the family plot is. This is a living, breathing place.''

In the South Bronx, Gerald Segal helped organize a group of family and friends to adopt a bench near the Bronx River, where he played as a child.

''It was our family's sacred ground,'' said Mr. Segal, 65. ''It was a place my parents were escaping the tenements of the South Bronx, so this was Elysian Fields for them. It was safe. It was green. It was very meaningful for us.''

John Taylor Gatto, who has bought 12 granite stones in Tompkins Square Park, said he planned to buy 64 more. Each stone is inscribed with the name of a family member or friend, along with the message ''Light Up the Darkness.''

''I just hope I live long enough to see the whole park covered,'' he said.

For Dr. Westheimer, happiness is derived from the activities that occur on her bench.

''I'm very pleased when I pass by and I see couples kissing on the bench,'' she said. ''It happens a lot because the bench is a bit secluded.''

She considered for a moment, adding, ''Kissing is O.K. But I'm old-fashioned, so there should be no love-making -- except in the privacy of your home.''

Photos: Ruth Westheimer on the bench in Fort Tryon Park that she dedicated to her husband, Fred, who died in 1997. She gave a $5,000 donation.; Given a boost by her parents, Aisha Bauman-Ricca and Pat Ricca, little Katrina, 6 months old, takes stock of her tree at Prospect Park. (Photographs by Andrea Mohin/The New York Times)